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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. field — for sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. fall — to drop
  6. saw — the tool
  7. last — final
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. last — to go on
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. fall — the season
  13. field — farmland
  14. last — finally
  15. field — a subject
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mate — a partner
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. mate — to breed
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. ball — a great time
  23. mate — a friend
  24. ball — a dance

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com